No plan to deploy troops to Malacca Strait: U.S.

Veeramalla Anjaiah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The United States has no plan to deploy any of its troops to the Straits of Malacca to flush out terrorists and curb piracy, the U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Ralph L. Boyce said in Jakarta.

"Admiral (Thomas B.) Fargo never said the U.S. was going to send its marines or special forces to the Straits of Malacca. The AFP story ... was misleading," Boyce said on Monday.

Boyce was referring to a statement made by the head of the Hawaii-based U.S. Pacific Command during a congressional hearing in Washington on March 31. The AFP news agency carried a story on April 4 quoting Fargo's speech. The report said the U.S. planned (initially AFP used the word 'plans' and later revised it to 'considers'-- Editor) to deploy marines and special operations forces along the Straits of Malacca -- the world's busiest waterways -- to flush out terrorists.

"He (Fargo) said there is an initiative with countries in the region to work together in cooperation -- and only obviously at the invitation of the countries like Malaysia, Singapore or Indonesia -- to address transnational threats in some joint fashion," Boyce said.

"Fargo was speaking in a congressional hearing purely hypothetically. How could we make a unilateral proposal like that without the close cooperation and support of the elements in the region? It doesn't make any sense. There is nothing the government of Indonesia or Malaysia needs to reject, because there is no proposal and there is no plan. They know about that already," the ambassador said.

On April 10, Indonesian Navy chief Adm. Bernard Kent Sondakh rejected Adm. Fargo's suggestions, calling the idea "baseless."

The Indonesian Navy was capable of securing the Straits of Malacca, Bernard said.

Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak has also said his country had no plans to seek U.S. help to guard the Malacca Straits against possible attacks on ships by terrorists.

The task of guarding the Malacca Strait was the joint responsibility of Malaysia and Indonesia, Najib said.

Boyce said the U.S. wanted to work with governments in the region on a multilateral basis to deal with transnational crimes.

Fargo, he said, was speaking about the U.S. Regional Maritime Security Initiative (RMSI), a multi-year program designed to deal with transnational threats and crime on the seas.

Boyce said the U.S. was involved in early dialog with Southeast Asian countries to discuss how they could jointly address these threats.

"They (the talks) are in a very, very preliminary stage," he said.

The RMSI is intended to facilitate information sharing and law enforcement activities between participating nations to monitor, identify and intercept suspect vessels and activities in national and international waters.